The Sanchi, carrying 136,000 tonnes of light crude oil from Iran, went under on Sunday after a new and massive fire erupted, sending a cloud of black smoke as high as one kilometre above the East China Sea. The bodies of only three of the 32 crew members have been found since the vessel collided with the CF Crystal, a Hong Kong-registered bulk freighter, on January 6, sparking a fire that Chinese rescue ships struggled to extinguish. Iranian officials said there was no hope of finding survivors among the crew of 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis, prompting grief and anger among families of the sailors in Tehran. The search and rescue effort was cancelled and a clean-up operation began after a fire on the sea surface was finally extinguished on Monday, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Two ships sprayed chemical agents in an attempt to dissolve the oil, CCTV said. But China’s maritime authority warned late Monday that the oil spill was expanding, with “several” oil slicks observed that “were much bigger than the previous day”. Three separate slicks were easily visible from surveillance planes, up to 18.2 kilometres in length, China’s State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said in a statement cited by Xinhua. The spill was likely to move northward due to wind and sea current, the SOA said. “This (clean-up) work is one of our focuses. It is also a priority area of our efforts. No one wants to see a large-scale secondary disaster,” said foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang, adding… [Read full story]

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Chinese ships scrambled Monday to clean up a massive oil spill after an Iranian tanker sank off China, raising fears of devastating damage to marine life. This handout picture from China's Transport Ministry taken and released on January 13, 2018 shows smoke and flames coming from the burning oil tanker The Sanchi, carrying 136,000 tonnes of light crude oil from Iran, went under on Sunday after a new and massive fire erupted, sending a cloud of black smoke as high as one kilometre (3,280 feet) above the East China Sea.The bodies of only three of the 32 crew members have…... [read more]

Earlier, a Tehran official said there was no hope of saving some 30 missing crewmen before the ship sank, amid concern over an oil spill as Chinese officials played down fears of a major environmental disaster.The Sanchi, carrying 136,000 tonnes of light crude oil from Iran, had been burning since colliding with the CF Crystal, a Hong Kong-registered bulk freighter, on Jan 6.At around midday Sunday the ship "suddenly ignited", with the entire vessel burning fiercely and a pall of smoke between 800 and 1,000 metres (2,625 and 3,280 feet) high, China's transport ministry said, releasing dramatic pictures of the…... [read more]

A Vietnamese oil tanker sank after colliding with another foreign vessel, spilling tons of diesel off the country's southern coast on Thursday. The tanker Mimosa, operated by state oil giant PetroVietnam, went down Thursday near Dai Hung oilfield with a cargo of 100 tons of diesel oil after crashing into the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Trinity. An oil spill appeared near the crash site, around 135 nautical miles southeast of the southern oil hub Vung Tau city, which is 125 km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, the report said. All 16 crew of the Vietnamese ship were rescued. There was…... [read more]

The southern US state of Alabama has filed a lawsuit against BP and other companies linked to the oil spill "catastrophe" that soiled the Gulf of Mexico coastline, a state official said Friday. The lawsuit, filed Thursday, accuses British oil giant BP, Transocean, "and others responsible for the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe" of causing serious damage through negligence and failing to adhere to safety standards. The amount of compensation Alabama is seeking will be determined in court, state Attorney General Troy King said in a statement. "BP said that this was their disaster and they would accept responsibility for it. Yet…... [read more]

A blazing oil rig has sunk into the Gulf of Mexico, sparking fears of an environmental disaster two days after a massive blast that left 11 workers missing. US maritime authorities said crude oil was pouring into the sea at the site where the hulking Deepwater Horizon rig once stood, though they were unable to determine at what rate. In Washington, President Barack Obama said the federal response to the disaster "was being treated as the number one priority," the White House said in a statement. Obama "made sure that the entire federal government was offering all assistance needed in…... [read more]